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Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

These Wreckerators get points for obeying the customer's instructions to the letter...

Of course, they then LOSE those points for writing the instructions on the cake.

Believe it or not, some folks are starting to ask for Wrecks like these ("Happy Birthday Under Neat That", etc) which adds a whole new level of hilarity when the bakery gets it wrong by getting it right.

I recently made up a new cake order form for the girls at work to use. I specifically wrote on the form: Please write EXACTLY as you would like it to appear on the cake - no extra quotation marks, exclamation marks etc. unless it is to appear on the cake. I am amazed at how hard it is for them to break the habit of putting everything in quotation marks or ending everything with an exclamation mark.

Hopefully my attempts to avoid a cake wreck won't end up as a cake wreck....or a triple cake wreck.

"Sara no H", huh? I once ordered a set of personalized pencils for each of our daughters, and specified "Teresa (no H)" and that was the way the pencils came. "Teresa No H". Maybe they thought she was Oriental? After all, our last name is Rice!

As an Anne with an E I feel for Sara with no H. Makes me wonder if there's a back history with the bakery, though, that they so explicitly put "no H" on the order form. I have known a few folks who absolutely insist they know the one and only "correct" way to spell a name with multiple possible spellings (even discounting the contemporary alternatives) - perhaps this wreckerator is one such?

So if I could intentionally design a cake wreck, it would be one that features a variety of Entirely Useless Items that can be bought at your neighborhood grocery store, like Micro-Yams (already been shrink-wrapped sweet potatoes) and vegetable "shaped" food storage containers: http://acadiadurham.blogspot.com.

I can't even begin to imagine how hysterical your commentary on that would be...

I ordered a cake today with very specific instructions, including a computer printout of what I wanted the cake to look like. I can't wait to see how it turns out — you might have a new wreck on Friday.

As a Sara no H, I can sympathize with the subject of that cake. I literally have to say "Sara, no H" every time I say my name to someone writing it down, and even then, sometimes they write like the wind and that damn H ends up there anyway.

@stunbunny - I don't think this is quite what Orwell was worried about.

@Michele - I also had that spelling as a middle name, but it may have been to make up for a last name with 2 C's, 2 N's, and 2 L's that despite being perfectly phonetic, no one could spell or pronounce. And I grew up with Alexandra, before it was cool, and always got an extra "I". Now, about half the time I get the masculine spelling. I need a cake with "d-r-a!"

The "curious George" one has GOT to be a Walmart cake. I think the store by my house pulls bums off the street to decorate. Being a cake decorator myself, it saddens me to see stuff like this and that people actually pay money for it!! LMAONicole

As the proud recipient of the original Curious George Cake...I cannot believe this cake is still ALIVE!

And, on the spelling front...with my name being SHARA, it is always misspelled on my birthday cake. But, on the hideous C.G. Cupcake Wreck - they got it right! Just everything else was wrong, wrong, wrong.

A few weeks ago I ordered an intentional cake wreck for my boyfriend's birthday. They did a terrific job, random quotation marks, under neat that, bright clashing colors, a clown and a shotgun! They were such good sports about the whole thing I promised them I'd never post a photo. At the party, NONE of our friends got it. No-one thought it was funny at all. On a side note, we're currently in the market for new friends. Anyone?

My father had a prosthetic leg, the result of a terrible accident years before. My father had taught me though that having fun is what it’s all about. Good clean fun, the kind that everyone can enjoy and is not at anyone’s expense. So when we went to a huge picnic and they called for the women's 3 legged race. I asked him if I could borrow his leg. I strapped it to the side of one of my legs and went to the starting line. One of the race organizers saw me and asked where my other person one. I straight faced told her, "you said 3-legged race, you said nothing about 2 people". She smiled and gave me a little wink.(She got it!) and went back to the sidelines. All the other ladies in the race "Got it!" too. As I showed off all the way down the field, running side ways and backwards, I had them laughing so hard that they were falling all over the field as they were attempting to keep up with me in the race. The race volunteers even added in to it by moving the finish line all over the place. But here's the REALLY funny part - 2 little old ladies on the sidelines doing the "head shaking Tsk! Tsk!" and saying "That's not fair. She should be disqualified" That had ME just about falling over in laughter. I got to the finish line and they attempted to hand me a first place ribbon. I told them I only did it for a laugh and to give the ribbon to whoever came in first behind me. I would be happy with the "participants piece of licorice". But they insisted on me taking the ribbon. When I returned my fathers leg to him, he was laughing so hard he had tears rolling down his face, and he immediately pinned the ribbon to his leg. For the rest of the day people would ask him why he had a red ribbon on his leg and he'd reply, "Oh it's a first place ribbon. I wasn't actually in the race ....but my leg was!"

i was buying a cake yesterday for a baby shower and all i wanted was "congratulations" written on it. i was a little nervous because i read your blog all the time. but much to my relief, the cake guy wrote the word on a piece of paper and asked me to spell check it before he iced it on the cake!!

yesterday i was buying a cake for a baby shower. all i wanted was "congratulations" written on it, but i was a bit nervous because i read your blog all the time. but much to my relief, the cake guy wrote the word on a piece of paper and had me spell check it before he iced it on the cake!

I know someone named Kraig. I can't imagine how many times he's had to say "...with a K." Is it possible that they would have put "Craig with a K" on the cake? And to add to this, his sons are named Karson and Kolton.

My youngest daughter's name is Sara with No h. I showed my Sara the cake wreck pictured and we laughed so hard. Well done, Cake decorator! You've done what we have been trying to accomplish all her life. All we have to do is say "NO H".

Hey Jen--The only thing worse than "(quotes)" on a cake is ONE beginning quote and no quote to end the quotation...yeah. Did you notice that the cake that said WRITE WELCOME ON IT had a beginning quote but no ending quote on the word "welcome?

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What's a Wreck?

A Cake Wreck is any cake that is unintentionally sad, silly, creepy, inappropriate - you name it. A Wreck is not necessarily a poorly-made cake; it's simply one I find funny, for any of a number of reasons. Anyone who has ever smeared frosting on a baked good has made a Wreck at one time or another, so I'm not here to vilify decorators: Cake Wrecks is just about finding the funny in unexpected, sugar-filled places.

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